The Issue of Trust
by always krissy
Summary: Shane before and after "The Scent of a Ranger." Shane & Cam pre-slash.


TITLE: The Issue of Trust  
AUTHOR: Krissy  
DISCLAIMER: Power Rangers ain't mine. That's all you need to know!  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yay Ninja Storm! This is my first Ninja Storm fic, outside of a drabble. I'm quite proud of it. :D Cam *might* seem a bit out of character, but I *tried.* The fic takes place before and after "Scent of a Ranger." It didn't start out slash, but it just came out that way. It is more pre-slash, than anything else, anyway.  
RATING: PG  
PAIRING: Shane/Cam pre-slash   
  
"Totally, dude. She's _so_ babalicious! I cannot believe she's _mine_." 

Cam's voice caught his attention, and Shane lingered in the Ninja Ops, glancing curiously around. He was no where to be found and since _when_ did Cam talk like that? And about _who_, for that matter? 

"Shh," another voice hissed -- which also sounded suspiciously like Cam -- and quietly admonished, "Tori is not an item to have. You should know better." 

"Oh. Word. Sorry, dude, but I just get _so excited_." 

Over Tori? Shane frowned. Since when did Cam like Tori? As far as Shane knew, Cam had no crushes. In fact, Shane didn't even know if Cam knew a girl even existed. He certainly had never noticed Tori's blatant crush when they first came to the Academy, which had quickly died off when Cam never even hinted at returned feelings. Not that they could blame him at the time. Tori had acted like such . . . a girl. Nothing at all like she was now. What a year could do to a person. 

Shane shuddered at the memory. 

"Well, that's something we'll need to work on, I'm guessing. And your vocabulary..." 

"Like yeah, man." 

His frown increased, and Shane edged his way to one of the smaller work rooms inside of Ninja Ops. Shane knew that Cam did his "Really-Secret-Projects" in there, and maybe he was in there now? Although who he was with, he couldn't even begin to fathom. It almost sounded like he was talking to himself! That voice was def. not Sensei. 

"Cam?" he whispered loudly, "Are you in there?" 

"Like, that's Shane!" was the only response he got. 

"Are you okay, Cam? I know its _me_, dude." Shane couldn't hide the worry in his voice. 

There was a long silence and Shane felt himself growing impatient. It was one thing when Dustin and Tori ignored him, but why was Cam? 

"Cam?" 

He crept closer to the room, and when he placed his hand on the handle, the door was jerked open. Shane drew back, startled, and Cam stared blankly at him, almost looking annoyed. 

"Yes, Shane?" 

Shane faltered for a moment, unsure of how to ask his friend if he was okay. They'd all been concerned about him the day before when Sensei had called him back to Ninja Ops during their training, but they hadn't been too sure about how to approach him, and... Well, Shane was really concerned now. 

"Are you okay, dude?" Shane asked, carefully masking any hint of overly concerned leader. "You weren't yourself earlier, and I was just wondering who you were talking to... And if you felt okay." 

Cam merely stared at him, unblinking. Shane didn't back down from the look and Cam finally sighed, breaking eye contact. 

"I'm fine, Shane, really. And what I'm doing is none of your concern. You should go find the others. They need more looking after than I do." 

"Are you sure?" 

Cam rolled his eyes, "I'm a Ranger, Shane, not a little kid." 

'Sometimes I have to disagree,' Shane felt like muttering, but he held his tongue, and just offered a small smile of forced understanding. "Right, dude." 

"Now, if you _really_ don't mind Shane, I have work to do." 

"Yeah, sorry, man." Shane watched as Cam retreated back into the room, and a little bit more from Shane. Not that he ever expected them to be that close, but sometimes he'd always gotten the vibe that he and Cam had more in common than having to deal with Tori and Dustin. 

Maybe he was just being silly. Yeah, that must be it. He must've hit his head a little _too_ hard during their last practice. 

--- 

A second Cam. A _cyber_ copy of Cam. Cyber-Cam. 

It made sense now. It really did. The 'babalicious,' the total mockery of 'dude' and 'man,' and well... The two Cam's he'd heard three days before? 

He couldn't help but feel betrayed. Why didn't Cam tell them? Why leave it a secret? Obviously Cam couldn't handle Cyber-Cam yet, or none of this would have happened. Was it so bad to just say, 'Hey, man, can you give me a hand?' Wait. This was Cam. Obviously it was. It wasn't like Shane _didn't_ understand a bit of science. He did, just not to Cam's extreme, so maybe it was hard for Cam to ask them, the _inferior_ ones, for help, but... Even Sensei didn't know, so maybe that meant _something_. 

He stood in the doorway of Ninja Ops, watching Cam and Cyber-Cam as they worked side-by-side. They had an easy banter that he, Tori, and Dustin had tried to bring out of him for almost a year. Why was the double able to do it without batting an eye? Did Cyber-Cam really get Cam better than he did just because they shared the same brain? 

"Hey, dude!" 

Shane jumped at the sound of Cyber-Cam's voice as he interrupted his thoughts. He sounded so much like Cam that it was scary. Not that it should be surprising, as he basically was Cam. 

"Hi," Shane mumbled half heartedly, as he glanced between the two Cam's. "What's up?" 

"We're makin' new improvements to the Ninja Swords. Wanna help?" 

"No, Shane doesn't want to help." Cam answered, shooting a glare over at Shane before glancing at his twin. "Just sit there quietly and work on the improvements." 

"Whatever you say, dude." Cyber-Cam went back to the computer screen and Shane found himself staring at Cam. What was _up_ with him, anyway? 

Cam stood up and pushed his chair in, before looking expectantly at Shane. "Was there something you needed?" 

"No... Yes. I don't know," Shane honestly answered. "Can we, like, talk somewhere?" 

Cam frowned, "Talk? Why? I need to do things here." 

"I can do the sword improvements!" Cyber-Cam turned to Cam, glaring. Cyber-Cam's attitude seemed to surprise Cam as much as it did Shane. "Get out. Do things. I'll do this." 

"You sound like dad," Cam murmured, critically, and he stared at his cyber copy. "Has he been messing around with the computers again?" 

"No, _Cameron_," he answered, shortly, sarcastically. 

"Now I _know_ he has." 

"Look, you guys," Shane broke in. He knew Cam's tone. He'd heard it so many times in the past, and as much as Shane had no desire to help the clone, he'd spare _anyone_ that wrath, even if he could probably duplicate it himself. "Let, er, _Cyber_-Cam stay here and work, and we'll just go outside. I just--" 

"--want to talk, I know," Cam finished for him. He sighed, resigned, and gestured vaguely at him. "Lead on." 

Feeling awkward, Shane obediently turned around and began to go the way he'd originally come from. He barely heard Cyber-Cam's cheerful goodbye as he finally reached the door. His hand shook lightly as it latched around the doorknob. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous. It was just _Cam_ he was going to talk to. He'd known him for a year. Sometimes it felt longer than that. How close he thought they'd all gotten. _He'd_ gotten with Cam. 

"Are you okay, Shane?" It had meant to come out annoyed, Shane knew that, but he could hear a hint of concern laced behind the words. And he couldn't fathom why. 

"Fine, great, _peachy_," Shane forced out, and finally, he went outside. The sunlight was starting to fade as he slouched against the wall, not really staring at anything but just the sun sinking behind the trees. He'd nearly forgotten how long he'd stood, just watching Cam and his copy work. 

"How's the gang?" Cam ventured in the silence. 

"Fine. Tori has been attempting to teach Hunter how to surf. Dustin and Blake find it funny. I guess it is." 

There was a lot that Shane wanted to add. Shouldn't he be out there with them? Watching Hunter make a fool of himself? Lecturing Tori on not trying to teach old dogs new tricks? And other Cam-like insults, that always came out somewhere between mean and nice. Shane thought that was the entire point of Cyber-Cam. To be able to do that with them. But in the two days, where Shane was still shocked about the creation, Cam hadn't joined them in a single thing. He'd always be found, caged away with the duplicate, trying to come up with new improvements on _something_. 

"Sounds entertaining," Cam said, and once again, they were enclosed in silence. 

"Something alright," Shane agreed faintly. "Why..." 

"Why what?" 

"Why didn't you tell _anyone_ about Cyber-Cam? Why was it a big secret?" There was another stretch of silence, before Shane added softly, "Why didn't you trust _me_?" 

"Trust is a hard thing to earn," Cam whispered, harshly. He sounded so sure of himself when he continued, that Shane nearly flinched. "And just because my father trusts you, doesn't mean _I_ do." 

"So what," Shane demanded, "All that I've done -- that _we've_ done to help this world -- means nothing to you? You'll _forget everything I did_ and just say you can't trust me? I thought so much _better of you_, Cam." He opened his mouth to add something else, his eyes flashing furiously, but Cam began to speak before he could. 

"You are exactly right." Cam's anger was beginning to leave, and it left him sounding like a hurt and defensive child, "What you do, to save the world, it isn't for _me_, so it _means nothing_ to me. All it does is prove something to my _father_, and the _other_ Rangers. You expect me to share _secrets_ with you, when you _know_ you'd go and _blab_ the secrets to _them_, if you thought it was 'saving' me. You ask about _trust_, well..." 

Shane felt like arguing. He felt like defending himself. But when it came right down to it, Cam was right. If he'd known about Cyber-Cam, he probably _would_ have told Sensei. Cyber-Cam could have been dangerous and could have hurt Cam worse than he had, and _someone_ should have known about it. There were five of them he could have talked to, and they'd all done the same thing -- _pushed him away_. 

"I'm sorry," Shane whispered. He thought back to _everything_. He'd always thought he tried to include Cam in their things, even before he was a Ranger, but there were so many times when he should have done _more_. He wanted so much more, he _knew_ that now. But sometimes it was so hard to tell him something, or ask him. Not like it was with Dustin. They _got_ each other. Shane realized just how little _he_ really got Cam. 

And it was going to come to a stop. 

"So, dude, its getting _late_. Why don't you go on to bed and I'll come get you tomorrow and we'll go _skateboarding_! I can teach you all the basics, dude." 

Cam opened his mouth to protest, to argue he didn't _want to_, but Shane just stared at him; pleadingly. 

"...Okay." 

This was to new beginnings, and maybe they could try this trust thing. 

One step at a time. 


End file.
